


9 





M 




Glass. 

Book ^^1 










THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. SETH W. BROWN, 



OF OHIO, 



IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



Friday, Aprii, 29, 1898. 



WASHINGTON. 
1S98. 



* ^ N 



^ 



<** 



^ 









SPEECH 



OF 



HON. SET II W. BROWN.' 



On the bill (H. R. 10100) to provide waysand moans to meet war expenditures. 
Mr. BROWN said: 

Mr. Chairman: I am placed under obligations to my distin- 
guished colleague from Ohio [Mr. Qeosvbkob] for his kindness 
in yielding to me a portion of his time, which he could so well 
occupy in closing this most interesting debate. 

Mr. Chairman, I will attempt to very briefly review some of the 
more important provisions of this bill and perhaps add some ob- 
servations on the necessity for its prompt passage. 

More money is needed by the Government. This bill proposes 
to raise more money. It is a resort to what in times past we 
called war taxes. It is a bill to produce war money. It is made 
al .solutely necessary by present conditions. The ordinary income 
of the Government is not sufficient to meet the demand now 
made for funds to carry on the war in which the nation has be- 
come involved. 

If the war had not come, there would now be no necessity for 
a measure of this nature. Under the tariff law passed at the extra 
session of the present Congress last year, the income of the Gov- 
ernment had already become about equal to its peace expendi- 
tures. In fact, during the months of February and March of the 
present year our revenues exceeded our expenditures by the sum 
of about $3,000,000, and it is as good as certain that if peace con- 
ditions had continued we would now be in the early days of a 
period wherein our revenues would equal and. indeed, exceed our 
e spenditures. The tariff act of July 24, 1897, has already justified 
the hopes of its friends. As a measure for producing revenue 
needed for all the wants of the Government in time of peace, that 
act is already an established and undisputed success. 
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But the tariff act of last year was not designed to raise funds 
necessary to meet both peace and war expenses. At the time it 
became a law. List summer, it was hoped that the trouble between 
this country and Spain would pass by without resort to the firing 
of a hostile shot. Now all conditions are changed. We are in 
the beginning of a war, the end of which no man can see. 

What is the necessity of raising additional money? We hear 
it said there is a Treasiiry balance in cash which is sufficient. 
This is not so. It is true there is an apparent cash balance in the 
Treasury of over $200,009,000, but many deductions must be made 
from this amount. There must be taken from this sum the gold 
reserve of §100,000,000. After deducting this amount and other 
sums which must be taken therefrom, there is actually in the 
Treasury now as an available cash balance less than $60,000,000, 
and from this amount there must be subtracted the sum of $50,- 
000,000 heretofore appropriated by a single act; and, further, there 
has already been created— properly, no doubt— a deficiency of 
perhaps $35,000,000. So, as a matter of fact, there is substantially 
no cash on hand with which to continue the war. 

Do we stop to consider the immense cost of war? It has been 
stated here in this debate that a single shot from some of our 
guns costs $1 ,600. The war preparations so far have cost the Gov- 
ernment about $25,000,000 a month. 

It is safe to say that the war expenses of the Government may 
b3 reasc nably expected to reach $1 ,000,000 a day. If the war shall 
continue a year, though we may hope it will end in less than 
three months, we shall be put to a war expense of, say, $ }65, 000,000. 
This money must be raised, or at least the measures by which it 
can bo raised must be enacted by Congress, so that, whether we 
shall remain in session or adjourn, the Administration may be 
clothed with power to procure all the funds needed to meet all 
calls. 

We call this an internal-revenue bill, and so it is. It produces 
money from internal sources. It taxes our own goods. It is not 
levied and collected on foreign imports. It is internal, not ex- 
ternal. It opens sources of revenue not resorted to in ordinary 
times. It is an extraordinary measure for an extraordinary occa- 
son - Jt is a kiQ d of taxation which would not be favored, at 



least for the raising of so much money, in a time of peace. The 
expenses of war alone justify the raising of so much money from 
these internal sources. 

It is expected that this measure, as it now stands, will produce 
about $100,000,000 a year, or, as it is more definitely figured, $95,- 
000,000. The precise amount which will be produced can only he 
determined after the act has gone into operation. 

It is provided in this bill that there shall be an increase of tax 

on fermented liquors. From this product it is expected $33,000,- 

•. ill be obtained. An increase of the tax on tobacco from 6 

to 12 c< ntsa pound, it is calculated, will produce $15,000,000. 

The increase to $1 a thousand on cigars and cigarettes, it is esti- 

1. will put into the Treasury $5,000,000. Then the tax of 

on ( a<h dealer in tobacco and cigars is restored, and this, it 

will add - 000 more. There is also restored the 

adhesive-stamp tax, which it is figured will add to the income pro- 

■1 by this bill an additional $30,000,000. 

We Bpeak of some of these taxes as being restored, meaning by 

this that these of revenue were formerly resorted to by 

the Government. They were afterwards removed, and now we 

t. There is also a tax imposed by this bill 
on chewing gum, mineral waters, wines, beverages of all sorts not 
rwise taxed under internal-revenue laws, and proprietary 
. which, it is estimated, will add $5,000,000 more. To 
e sums is added an increased tonnage on v< ssels in the foreign 
trad.', which it is 1 elieved will e the ag iby the sum 

of $.',5011,0110, bringing the whole up to $05,500,000 for one year of 
kind of internal taxation. 
It is to be noticed of the product-, taxed by this bill, that they 
are what are designated as articles of voluntary consumption— 
that is, they are articles which men may consume or not, as 
like. No tax is imposed on bread. Here are taxes collected 
from liquors, tobacco, and cigars, and other things, which people 
sum" or not, as they wish. The prices of the n • essities 
oflifearenot to ed by anything in this bill. And it is fur- 

that the; large item of $:JO,000,000, to be do- 
rived from ] I ing to adhesive stamps, will be a sum 

that can be paid by those who have the ability to pay, as a gen- 



6 

era! rule. Men who give bank cheeks have funds to check upon. 
Those who purchase drafts are able to pay for the required stamps. 
Those who sell lands and execute deeds therefor are presumed 
to be able to pay for the stamps required for their written con- 
veyances; and so on through the long list of papers which will 
now require adhesive stamps. Those who will be put to the ex- 
pense are those, as a general rule, who will be able to pay. 

But if we are to have war expenses in the sum of at least 
$1,000,000 a day or $303,000,000 a year, and if this bill shall pro- 
duce $95,000,000 a year, it will still be utterly insufficient to raise 
all the money needed to go ahead with the war. What then? 
Something still further is needed. 

On the other side of the House it is proposed that we shall raise 
a large sum of money by what is called an income tax. It is pro- 
posed that we impose a tax on all incomes over a specified sum. 
There is much to be said in favor of an income tax, which falls 
upon those who actually have large incomes of money, and who, 
of all our people, may be presumed to be prepared to pay the pro- 
posed tax with the least injury or inconvenience to themselves. 

This proposition is an old one. It has been talked about in Con- 
gress and oat of Congress for a long time, and the people of the 
country are familiar with the arguments one way and the other, 
and with the history of legislation along this line. In 189-1 Con- 
gress passed an income-tax law. What was the result? The Su- 
preme Court of the United States decided that the law was uncon- 
st it ntional. There is no occasion here to enter into a consideration 
of the grounds on which the Supreme Court made this decision. 
It is enough for us to know now that such a decision was made, ■ 
and that it stands unreversed and apparently not questioned by 
the great body of the legal profession in this country. The court 
said squarely and directly that the provisions of the act of 1894 
were contrary to the clear and explicit provisions of the Constitu- 
tion, and this decision ended that law. It is on our statute books 
to-day, but it is a dead letter. 

It is difficult to see on what safe ground gentlemen can place 
themselves in proposing that we put into this bill a provision 
taxing incomes. Men may say that it is fair to tax incomes and 
that they would be glad to see these incomes pay a large part of 

3313 



the financial burthens of war; but if this can not be done under 
the Constitution, what is the use to talk about it? It is claimed 
that provisions taxing incomes might be so framed as to meet the 
constitutional objections to the income tax, but this is a matter 
of very grave doubt; and being so, could we afford at this time to 
experiment upon a further trial of the effort to tax incomes? 
Would it be safe now, when money must be immediately raised, 
to attempt to raise it, or any large part of it, in a way which our 
highest court has said is absolutely contrary to the Constitution 
of the United States? 
At best, this effort would bring us another lawsuit. We would 

ain go to the Supreme Court. There would be people ready at 
an hour's notice to make a test question on which the Supreme 
< old again be called upon to pass judgment on the con- 

stitutionality of the provision. In short, we would again and al- 

-.t immediately be involved in a great lawsuit. Is this a time 
to invite lawsuits in the matter of money needed to carry on the 

r? Is thia a time to try further experiments in this direction, 
and especially is it the time to put such a provision in the present 
bill.- < '. rtainly we ought to so enact this bill that it will be free 
fo y question of doubt. It should not contain the germ of 

a lawsuit. It should be clear and plain, and such that it can be 
immi diately put into operation, without the possibility that any- 
body will carry it to the Supremo Court to question whether it is 
in harmony with the Constitution. 

I it should be regarded as the duty of Congress to attempt to 

1 ;> :>n act raising money from incomes, why should not this be 

a bill separate from all other bills, so that if it should fall 

it would not involve any other provisions in its fall, but would 

go down by itself and affect nothing else? Clearly, it is a mis- 

e to try to put an income-tax provision into this bill. 

What else is proposed on the other side of this House? It is said 
t), Qght to raise some of these war moneys by the issue of 

silver certificates on what is called the seigniorage. What is this 
proposition? We have in the Treasury to-day about 110,000,000 
ounces oi We paid for it about §100,000,000. Seigniorage 

the profit which the Government derives by the coining of this 
bullion i::'" money. 



8 

Silver bullion which costs the Government less than §1 is coined 
into §1. The difference between the cost of the bullion and the 
dollar coined therefrom is called the seigniorage. This profit 
which the Government makes, which is the amount of difference 
between the cost of the silver bullion and the amount of the 
coined money, is the seigniorage. But there is no seigniorage, 
there is no profit derived in this way, until the bullion is coined; 
and therefore there is now no profit and nothing on which to 
issue the proposed silver certificates. This profit, we are not to 
forget, is not ours until the bullion is actually coined; but even if 
we had authority to issue right now silver certificates on the dif- 
ference between the cost of this bullion and the amount of the 
money which it would produce if coined, we still have the fact 
that the amount of these certificates, the amount thus raised, 
would not be sufficient to carry on the war a month. 

This bill provides that the amount of money probably needed 
in addition to the $100,000,000 thus raised by taxation shall bo 
obtained by the sale of bonds. The Secretary of the Treasury is 
authorized to issue and sell bonds to an amount not exceeding 
$500,000,000. It is proposed that these shall be disposed of so that 
the loan shall be a popular one. Bonds are to be issued in de- 
nominations of $25 and multiples thereof. These bonds are lower 
in denomination than any ever issued in this country. That is, 
we propose to raise $100,000,000, or about that sum, from the 
sources of taxation especially mentioned, and then we will bor- 
row, if necessary, $500,000,000 more. The authority to do this is 
placed in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury. He is not 
required to issue and sell all of these bonds, and it may be as- 
sumed that he will only issue and sell such amount thereof as 
may be necessary to raise the money needed. 

If the war should happily end in a few weeks, or a few months, 

these bonds will not all be issued and sold. On the other hand, if 

the whole amount should be needed, there will be in the hands of the 

Administration the power to borrow the money. Of course it is a 

cause of regret that the nation is put to the probable necessity of 

borrowing money. We have never regarded a national debt as a 

national blessing. The national debt in 1885, at the close of the 

civil war, amounted to $2,385,000,000. This debt we proceeded to 
3S13 



pay off, so that in 1893 it amounted to less than $500,000,000. We 
are not the friends of a national debt. We do not believe in a 
national debt, and when a national debt is created we believe in 
paying it off. The only reason for the creation of the proposed 
debt now is necessity, and that necessity is created by war upon 
which we have entered in the belief that it is just and that we 
could not honorably have escaped it. 

What is the cause of the war for the expenses of which we im- 
pose these taxes? We have stated the cause in the preamble to 
the resolutions which Congress recently adopted, in which we de- 
clare that our course is made necessary by '-the abhorrent con- 
ditions which have existed for more than three years in the Island 
of Cuba, so near our own borders." We further say in this pre- 
amble that these conditions "have shocked the moral sense of 
the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian 
civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a 
United States battle ship, with 2GG of its officers and crew, while 
on a friendly visit to the harbor of Havana;" and we further say 
that these conditions, with the results, '-can not longer be en- 
dow irely they ran not "longer be endured." 

I here a civilized nation in Europe that would have endured 

such conditions, near its own borders, as long as we have endured 

js here at our doors in the unhappy Island of Cuba? 

What further do we say as one of the propositions on which we 

stand in waging this war? We say that "the people of the Island 

■ are and of right ought to be free and independent."' 

1 low i < raid we say Less? 1 1 »w could we, in the enjoyment of our 

I lom and independence, and believing in the freedom and in- 

ndence of any people who strive to throw off the yoke of op- 

I • -how could we do less than say that the people of the 

! udof < Jnha are and of right ought to be free and independent? 

ions in the world, ought to be the first to say 

this. ret people for us to say it to are those who, almost 

in Bighi of our shores, have for more than three years vindi- 

Eree and independent. 

It was further pr< by our resolutions, as they passed the 

mid recognize the Republic of Cuba as the true 

and lawful gov. t of that island. It seemed to me that this 



10 

was also the proper thing for us to do, and I voted accordingly. 

It appeared to rne that it was due the builders and defenders of 

the Republic of Cuba that we should recognize it as the true and 

lawful government of the Island of Cuba; but this is not perhaps 

a matter of vital importance now, for, as we kave recognized the 

fact that the people of the Island of Cuba are and of right ought 

to be free and independent, we can and doubtless will at an early 

day recognize the independence of their republic. 

And what further do we say in the declaration on which wo 

have gone to war? We say this: 

That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to 
exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the 
pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accom- 
plished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people. 

And what a grand declaration this is to be made now by our 
great Republic. Will not this declaration win for us the respect, 
regard, and admiration of thoughtful men throughout the world? 
We have no purposes of conquest, and we declare that fact to 
mankind. We do not seek to permanently acquire a single square 
foot of foreign ground by force of arms. How else could we so 
grandly state the unselfish nature of our purpose? We go out 
with our Army and our Navy in the cause of humanity. We 
raise our battle flags and carry them to the front with the deter- 
mination to rescue a people from conditions which we say are a 
disgrace to Christian civilization. 

It may be that in time to come, through friendly negotiations, 
Cuba may become a part of the territory of the United States, but 
this shall not come about through conquest. Did a people ever 
before in the world go to war with higher or purer motives? We 
can not expect indemnity from Spain. Even if we could exact it, 
she probably could not pay it. But whether this be so or not, we 
declare in a solemn way that we go to drive Spain from Cuba, but 
not to acquire Cuba. If success shall come of our effort— and of 
this no man can doubt— the end of the war will find us having 
gained no territory by military conquest. Will not such a war. 
waged on such high grounds, give us a standing in the respect of 
the world which we have never had before, and above all will it 
not make us all feel that we have done that which the right de- 
manded, without hope of reward other than the satisfaction which 
comes from following the high path of duty? 



11 

The truth of the old saying that history repeats itself comes 
home to lis now. History is to-day repeating one of its glowing 
chapters. The scenes of 1861, though on a smaller scale, are again 
enacted. The nation is once more aroused. Again we feel the 
3m which a just war creates. 
The flag of our Union now represents States — forty-five of 
them — bound together not only by constitutional ties, but united 
in the common purpose of all their people, and this flag waves 
more proudly than ever from window and house top in all the 
land, and over recruiting station, and marching column, and as- 
king camp. It is more al . ■ than ever. It has more 
of bri ul more of beauty in its stripes, and 
more of grace and glory in its folds I have beheld there 
sine i war. 

st kindles in the veins of the 

Qg away as their fathers 

marched. They go motherland er,andwife, 

r, and die, if m ed be. for principle, for 
th< ir country, and for humanity. 

of th civil war, many of 

whoi heir country in the field, and all 

men who i for the present contest. 

The E aough for them. The money paid them 

i. They are entitled to far higher recognition. 

Hscharge of the soldier or sailor of 

Lvil war. or the honorable discharge of the soldier or sailor 

of this war, a certificate, fully entitling him to appointment to 

any n in the civil :e of the United States, 

withonl an nation under the civil-service law, and with- 

mination or test, except that which the appointing 

it proper I ribe. On the 21st day of 

. :i tli I introduced in the House a bill to give this effect to 

i y soldier or sailor, whether of the 
| war or war. That bill is as follows: 

>fthe United States 

all persons who now are or who shall 

military or naval service of the 

Qtment to all offices and positions in 

discretion of heads of Depart- 

tts to such civil 



1 o 

service, without any examination or test other than such heads of Depart- 
ments or officers may prescribe. 

Sec. 2. That the rules made or which may hereafter be made under the 
provisions of an act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service 
of the United States," approved January 16, 1S83, shall not hereafter apply to 
nor regulate the employment or appointment of persons who now are or who 
shall hereafter be honorably discharged from the military or naval service of 
the United States, as aforesaid, to offices or positions in said civil service nor 
to the removal of such persons therefrom, and in so far as said act can be 
construed to regulate or authorize the making of rules for the employment 
or appointment of persons honorably discharged as aforesaid to, or their re- 
moval from, offices or positions in the public service, the same is hereby 
repealed, and all rules which have been, or which may hereafter be, adopted 
or promulgated inconsistent with this act are hereby annulled and rescinded. 

The civil-service law is so harmful to the public service, keep- 
ing persons in place after they become inefficient from age or 
other cause, and is so at variance with sound principle, and is so 
unfair and unjust to those who perform good, honest, and patriotic 
work for the success of their party, that I would prune it down to 
harmless proportions, leaving it to apply only to a few of the 
many classes of officers which it now covers. But, failing to secure 
its severe modification at this time, I would now at least repeal it 
in the case of every honorably discharged soldier or sailor. I shall 
hope that this bill may receive the favorable consideration of this 
House. I think it is properly entitled "A bill to recognize the 
services of soldiers and sailors and to encourage patriotic responses 
to calls for volunteers." 

And history repeats not only the record of the soldier who 
obeyed, but it reproduces in some measure the picture of the 
leader who commanded. Lincoln was a poor boy; so was Mc- 
Kinley. Lincoln studied his books, told the truth, and loved his 
parents; so did McKinley. Lincoln was a soldier in the only 
military service required when he was young and strong. He 
volunteered to perform service against the Indians. McKinley, 
in the days of his maturing manhood, enlisted in the grand Army 
of the Union. Lincoln served in this House; so did McKinley. 
Lincoln as President was confronted by new problems; so is Mc- 
Kinley. Lincoln was careful, prudent, hearing all things, bear- 
ing all things, weighing all things, and slow to step but sure to 
stand; and the same is true of McKinley. 

The repetition of history goes still further. On the 1th day of 

July, 1861, three months after the war had been commenced in the 

harbor of Charleston, in his message to Congress Lincoln declared 
S313 



13 

that the policy he had chosen "looked to the exhaustion of all 

1 measures." Three months after this war commenced in 

ful harbor at Havana McKinley can declare that the policy 

1 to the exhaustion of all peaceful measures." 

• dearly, we will have faith that when 

ill he written in the bright light of 

a]1 ' to know that the caution of 

ip; but whether this prove 

and lovingly with 

5 he has made, to avoid 

a bill shall all be needed 

required, and if the 

William McKinley can say 

in future years that he 

and if 

with their gallant crews, to the 

that he (lid not rashly 

in war.it can not bedoubted 

ue to 

I to tb e who occu- 
. that they could not 
1 ■ the latest gen- 
ay very late 

I nucnts. 
I not 
ues of 
. i iion, 

■ ' • i file of 
ildiers 
l- any par- 
bill, 
n which the tilings 

afford to en- 
o it a scheme of 



14 

taxation which our highest court has pronounced unconstitutional. 
If the Congress should be in duty bound to tax the incomes of the 
rich to help paythe expenses of war, let it be done or attempted 
in a separate bill, which, failing before a constitutional objection, 
would not in any manner retard the collection of revenues from 
sources that are clearly within the taxing power. Action prompt 
and sure will best support the President, and will grandly show 
our enemies and the whole world that in the presence of danger 
we here can act in harmony, as the people we represent are mov- 
ing together in the service of our common country and in the 
cause of our common humanity. 

To pass this bill promiDtly and wisely spend these revenues in 
the purchase and building of ships, and in providing armaments 
and munitions of war, and in paying the soldiers and sailors who 
will fight our battles on land and on sea, will expel Spain from 
this fair portion of the earth; will give strength to homeless 
women, starving in pens and prisons, and nourishment to chil- 
dren perishing on the breasts of dying mothers; will build new 
homes in Cuba and turn the ashes of her waste places into the 
rich products of her fruitful fields; will show that men who have 
had the strength and courage to successfully resist the vast armies 
sent to subjugate them will be virtuous enough and great enough 
10 maintain their independence; and will bring to us the best in- 
demnity for the Maine and build the loftiest monument to her 
heroic dead. 

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